NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) African Catholics, numbering about 200 million, hope to take advantage of the Jubilee Year declared by Pope Francis to advance forgiveness and interfaith understanding, especially with Muslims.

LOS ANGELES (RNS) In the wake of the San Bernadino attacks and proposals to restrict Muslim immigration, some Japanese Americans are remembering the backlash against their parents and grandparents after the Pearl Harbor attack in World War II, and are expressing support for American Muslims.

(RNS) Archbishop Allen Vigneron’s criticism is significant because Catholic leaders have been strong defenders of religious freedom in recent years but have been largely quiet in the wake of Donald Trump’s controversial pitch earlier this week to bar all Muslims from the U.S.

ROME (RNS) During a trip to Rome for a conference on Christian persecution, David Saperstein, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, did not cite Donald Trump by name but took aim at recent controversial comments by presidential candidates.

(RNS) Americans are daunted by the changing economy and the wars we don’t seem to know how to win. And people don’t like to feel daunted; they want to feel effective. That’s why enough are open to extreme solutions so as to keep Trump as the top GOP candidate.

WASHINGTON – Republican presidential front-runner’s call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States draws fierce criticism and accusations that he is playing to Americans’ fears, a day after President Barack Obama called for religious tolerance.